Depending on the source, he's either the No. 1 or No. 2 player nationally in his class.

He's won two gold medals for USA Basketball junior national teams and was named MVP of a major international tournament.

His presence at a college football game ignited a verbal altercation between Duke and North Carolina fans.

He's not always comfortable with the attention he receives, but he's well-schooled in handling it.

Simeon senior Jabari Parker fits the description, but he's not the player in question.

If not for Parker, the three-time state champion and Illinois' reigning Mr. Basketball, Young junior Jahlil Okafor might already be well on his way to becoming one of the most publicized players the state has produced.

Okafor can't thank his close friend enough for casting a shadow large enough to envelope his 6-foot-11 frame.

"Of course it is always about Jabari, but it doesn't bother me," Okafor said. "It makes it easier on me, less stressful. He tells me all the time he hates all that attention. When I do get it, I wish I didn't get it as much. I just want to be a normal kid."

"I learned a lot from him. Everything I'm experiencing, he already experienced, and he told me what was going to happen. He helped me prepare for what's coming at me."

Simeon and Young are rivals on the court, but like many Chicago basketball players, Parker and Okafor have a friendship that predates high school.

They met while playing for the Mac Irvin Fire club when Okafor was in seventh grade, and they became close while playing for USA Basketball the last two summers.

Parker was the star of that show in 2011, and when he went down in June with a foot injury from which he's still recovering, Okafor's already strong reputation soared.

He averaged 13.6 and 8.3 rebounds to lead the USA U17 squad to an 8-0 record.

"Playing with Team USA, you build a real brotherhood with those 11 players," Okafor said. "Winning the gold medal was No. 1. Being MVP was definitely an honor."

Okafor now wants to dominate the high school level like Parker, which, through no fault of his own, didn't always happen last year.

True back-to-the-basket players like Okafor are rare on any level and almost extinct in high school.

"He wants to be one of the best," Parker said. "I think he's there."

Okafor's footwork is impeccable, and he has every move in the book. He can't do anything with a ball he doesn't have, though, and he can't blow the referee's whistle.

"I've been told (the officials) don't know what to do with me (when he's fouled)," Okafor said. "You just have to play through it."

Okafor should have more room to operate this season with the improvement of junior point guard Miles Reynolds and the transfer of Top 100 junior guard L.J. Peak from South Carolina.

With the pieces in place around him — Young has a third Top 100 junior in 6-8 wing Paul White — and the rust Parker is going to have to shake off once he returns, the Dolphins could spoil Simeon's four-peat plans.

And Okafor could pose a challenge to Parker for Mr. Basketball.

"He is probably the most skilled big man the state has seen since Eddy Curry or Rashard Griffith," said Roy Schmidt, who has run a scouting service with his brother, Harv, in the area for the last 26 years.

"And with those guys, as good as they were, as productive as they were, times were different and they just simply overpowered everybody.

"There is also more hype surrounding players now, and in the case of both Parker and Okafor, they are both more than living up to the billing. I think Okafor in the end will be just as dominant or an even more dominant NBA prospect than Jabari will be. And that is not a knock on Jabari."